World Touring Car Championship driver Tom Coronel has revealed that his impact with a fire vehicle in Vila Real practice measured 25G.
Coronel was travelling through a fast downhill section towards the end of the lap when his Chevrolet’s left-front wheel failed.
He went straight on past the Turn 23 right-hander down an escape road.
Having missed a crash barrier, the Dutchman’s Chevrolet Cruze came to a halt when it smashed into the side of a fire crew van.
Coronel and his ROAL Motorsport team later discovered the bolts on his front-left wheel had broken, with the wheel working itself loose on the downhill run and breaking free before the collision
A later investigation revealed the impact of the crash was “around 25G”, and snapped Coronel’s seatbelts and restraint ties on his HANS device.
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“Under braking, many things happened underneath the car, but it certainly didn’t brake,” said Coronel.
“I ran through the grass at high speed, hit an obstacle and finally came to a halt against an ambulance that was parked there.
“The impact was huge; it turned out that the reason was the five bolts of the left front wheel that were broken.
“I didn’t have any brakes and couldn’t do anything because of it.
“In hindsight, I’m happy the ambulance was parked there rather than blocks of concrete with the impact that would have caused.
“All the safety measures worked well and an investigation by the FIA revealed that the force of the impact was around 25G.
“The safety belts of the car were cut in two, just like the ties of the HANS system.
“The serial number of my helmet was noted. That can never be used again.”
VIDEO: Coronel suffers bizarre crash at Vila Real
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